Spot-2 Satellite Retired

The French Spot-2 (Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre) Earth observation satellite, launched on the 22nd January, 1990 is beingretired after 19 years.

The satellites design life time was intended to be only three years. The onboard tape recorders failed in 1991 and early 1993,respectively.The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have decided to deorbit the satellite at the end of July 2009. The satellite is currently in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit.